My name is Matt, or at least that is what my English-speaking friends tended to call me given the hard-to-pronounce nature of my name to native English speakers. I am a Brazilian born in 1990 and, as far as I am concerned, I must be playing videogames since then, because I simply fail to remember a time in my life when games were not a major part of it.
I do not recall precisely when I first came into contact with a videogame, but my earliest gaming memory is going through Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES my parents bought me when I was a child. Ever since then, I have owned every single console Nintendo has ever put out and I have played nearly all of the games from their major franchises.
Although I do admire some of the software released on other platforms, I feel like gaming is meaningless with no Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Star Fox, among others. Therefore, due to a matter of time and money, buying and focusing exclusively on the Nintendo platforms with each new generation is a no-brainer in my book.
Even though gaming is what I mainly do for fun, I have plenty of other hobbies. I love listening to music, especially rock, which is something I am as passionate about as videogames themselves. I love watching movies, especially animations. I enjoy doing outdoor activities, like hiking, running, and bicycling. I like to learn new languages: I speak English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. And I love reading, an activity which I unfortunately do not do as often as I would like to due to a general lack of time.
Outside this virtual world, I am a Computer Science major with a master’s degree in Data Engineering, a Data Scientist, and I was an English teacher for over a decade.
Nintendo Network ID: EarthbounderBR.
Nintendo Switch Friend Code: 4128-2724-1902
Nintendobound 
A little happy something here from me to you — the Liebster blog award! Wonderful work here all around. https://recollectionsofplay.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/its-liebstering-all-over-the-place/
Thanks a lot! I will try to answer those questions as soon as I can.
If you’re from Brazil, how come you have good English? And aren’t they somewhat restrictive on video games? I’m just curious.
Thanks for the “good English” part!
I guess writing so much greatly improved my English. Plus, I have also worked twice (albeit for just a short while) in the United States, so that has also helped!
To top it all off, I also give English classes around here. If you ask my students they will likely tell you I am extra demanding with their writing. I am always giving them tips and other general pointers!
As for Brazil being restrictive on video games, it isn’t. The problem here is that, like everything else in this country, videogames are ridiculously expensive.
If we convert the currency, I paid over 550 dollars for my Wii U; over 300 bucks for my 3DS; and games for those two systems usually go for around 80 dollars! I kid you not!
The government applies abusive taxes over videogames that are not produced here, and since most gaming companies refuse to install factories around these parts, the prices skyrocket to absurd heights!
Both Sony and Microsoft decided to give in and they have started producing hardware here, but Nintendo didn’t. To make matters worse, their official representative in Brazil pulled out of the country, so as of today Nintendo has no official distributor here… all games for Nintendo platforms need to bought at shops that import them from other distributors.
Oh, and the Nintendo Wii U e-shop has not been released here, meaning that – through official means – I am totally unable to get any DLC or downloadable-only game. And that’s considering Brazil is probably the largest gaming market outside Japan, the US, and Europe.
It’s good to be a Nintendo gamer here! =P
(Sorry for the overly long answer. The whole gaming situation in Brazil is as convoluted as a soap opera. But getting games is relatively easy, you just need to have a lot of cash when compared to what’s paid for games in the US.)
Yeah, I already know about the whole expensive crap since Brazil has a lower currency than the US. China is even worse as 1 US dollar is equivalent to 7 Chinese yuan, so video games aren’t so bad when you think about that.
Oh, and about the eShop thing. So how are you able to get it through unofficial means? Let me guess, you pirate the content or download it from foreign sites, am I correct? Did you know that Brazil also has the most Japanese people outside of Japan?
And as for Japanese people, I did not know we had the largest community outside Japan, but I did know we were close to that!
Most of them live in São Paulo. There is a neighborhood over there, which is called “Liberdade”, that is completely dominated by them! Even the streets have Japanese decorations. It’s a great place to visit.
I just do not do anything. I have to find a way to live without the DLC for Wii U games.
What some people here do is create a new Nintendo ID (one whose country is setup to “United States”), change the system settings so that it also points to “United States”, and then login with said account in order to download stuff through it.
I am stubborn guy, though, so I have just decided that if Nintendo does not care for my money – and I sure would be spending considerable amounts of cash on the Wii U E-shop – I will not go out of my way to give it to them. If they feel like they want it, they can setup an E-Shop for Brazil, and then I will give them some cash.
Sad how Nintendo is still stuck behind and is obssessed with region locking…
Yeah. It amazes me how narrow-minded the company is when it comes to certain subjects.
I bet my head that the NX will be another flop in terms of reputation, online, and third-party support.
Well, I hope Nintendo learns from their mistakes on the previous two generations and comes up with a console that, in terms of power, is up-to-par with its competitors.
Yeah right! The Wii U supposedly caught up with the PS3 and Xbox 360. That was like a generation ago when the Wii was supposed to be that powerful. Nintendo finally has HD graphics when Sony and Microsoft had that for a decade.
Now they have 4K graphics. It’s sad how not only the Wii U is weaker than the PS4 and Xbox One, but also weaker than their predecessors. Like everyone knows that the Wii U’s CPU is weaker than the CPU of both past consoles.
So if they’re shit now, imagine with the NX. They’ll probably be as powerful or slightly more than the PS4 and Xbox One, but then the PS5 and Xbox 720 will be even more stronger than that. If Nintendo honestly only upgrades to 4K, then they are done. Because Sony and Microsoft are just going to move on and ascend to 8K graphics. Also sad how the Wii U is still even worse than Xbox Live on the original Xbox, which was released more than a decade ago!
I am honestly not sure for how long this graphics race will hold as games get increasingly more complex and expensive to make.
What I do know is that Nintendo needs to bring out a console that is up to par with what MS and Sony offer in terms of power. If they can pair that up with their first-party IPs, and a clever control scheme that stands out, I think they can get the throne back.
I don’t think so. Microsoft has claimed to bring back their long dead first and second-party IP’s to the Xbox One at E3 2015. And they switched their current situation completely, from being a pro-profit company with shitty products and terrible customer service to pro-consumer views with better service and negotiations that make the customers happy. Like, removing the Kinect, removing online restrictions, dropping the price below the price reduced PS4, and fix console bugs to make the hardware easier to display the best graphics and resolution. Many Xbox games can now render at native 900p HD instead of native 720p. And both Sony and Microsoft are playing the catch-up game with PC, so even if Nintendo catches up to them, they’ll be left behind again because of the standards of PC. So they not only they have to catch up to consoles, but PC also, and that’s not easy, not even for Sony or Microsoft.
Are you TK who wrote the recent articles on My Nintendo News?
Nope. That’s not me! =)
Pierst! It’s AK from the days of GS! Great to see you still writing about music and Nintendo. 🙂
Hey there, AK! Glad to hear from you again! What’s up with life?
If you’re curious, I’m writing my review for Donkey Kong Country Returns and will publish it on my site on Friday. I am sorry for not updating my site frequently, but i have school and I need good grades to get into University of Toronto this September!
Good luck getting into the university!
And I will check it out when it is up. Thanks for letting me know.
By the way, I get very lazy and don’t post pictures to compliment my reviews until much after. That’s why you’ll see pictures for my Skyward Sword review but not for my DKCR review as I’m a huge procrastinator.
ahahahahhha… I can relate to that. I always post my reviews with pictures, but it is a huge hassle.
Hey, Matt! I had to give you a Blogger Recognition Award! I had no idea that you’re Brazilian. Great English! Also, I love your avatar.
https://thewellredmage.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/blogger-recognition-award/
Thanks for the award and for the “great English” part. =)
Ness is awesome indeed!
Hey there! Thanks for the follow, I appreciate it! It’s funny how you say you’ve been playing video games since you were born… I said something very similar in my “About Me” section! 😉 It’s so true, I can’t ever remember a time I wasn’t playing video games! Anyway, I’m following you back as well, and I look forward to reading your blog posts! Have a great day! 🙂
You are welcome. Thanks for following me back! I also look forward to reading yours! =)
Yeah, in a way I am glad I don’t remember when I played a videogame for the first time, because then I can truly feel I have been playing them for as long as I’ve been alive. =P
Along with the other awards you must be stacking up, you’ve got yourself another Liebster, courtesy of us:
https://stuffandthatreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/05/liebster-award-nomination-02-second-helpings/
Milo.
Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it! =)
Hey there! I just wanted you to know I nominated you for the Liebster award- I got nominated recently and I wanted to nominate 5 of my most recent subscribers to thank them for reading my blog! Here’s the entry: https://defythemajority.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/the-liebster-award/
(I see you just got nominated for one a few days ago, so please know you are under no obligation to answer my questions. I just wanted to thank you for reading my blog! :))
Thanks a lot for the award and for also reading my blog! =)
I will try to compile all questions into one post eventually.
Just to say that, by accident I trashed your comment on my Arrival review, I am so sorry, I must have pressed the wrong button. Just so you know that it wasn’t on purpose. Nonetheless, thank you so much for what you said to me ! 🙂
No worries! It happens! =P
You are welcome!
The being an English Teacher was like an M Night twist. Great blog by the way.
I hope it was a twist worthy of one of his good movies, then!
And thanks! =D
Great blog! Excellent choice in music. I sent you a request on Switch. Now you can see how much Mario Kart 8 I play. Huzzah!
Oh, so that was you? I got the notification while I was playing Triangle Strategy. I will add you so I can spy on your gaming habits.
I’d play Mario Kart 8 a lot as well, but I have the Wii U version so I ended up not getting the one for the Switch.
*evil laugh* The Switch one has 48 new tracks on the way as DLC, highly recommended. Innit.
Yeah, those 48 extra tracks are quite an awesome and unprecedented addition. It seems Nintendo is trying to get me to buy Mario Kart 8 again, those dirty bastards.
They sure need to clean their act up!!
Hey Matt! Very happy to have found your blog. First of all you express yourself nicely, your blog posts are easy to read. Plus I am a big fan of Nintendo too and have owned every Nintendo console since Gameboy Colour lol… What’s your all-time favourite Nintendo game? Mine has got to be ‘smash bros gamecube’ It was soo good!
Hey, Tom! Thanks for the compliment. I really appreciate it, and I am glad you found this blog! You have been aboard the Nintendo train for a while too then.
My favorite Nintendo game is Breath of the Wild, with Super Mario Galaxy 2 being a close second.
I had a lot of fun with Melee back in the day. It’s a great choice! The original Smash Bros is awesome, but too simple and a bit irregular in some aspects. Melee, on the other hand, was a key step in taking the franchise to the epic ambitious scope it has nowadays.
Yeah, a lot of people like breath of the wild, I’m not surprised either to be fair. Yeh melee was great!
Breath of the Wild has its detractors, and in a way I understand their position because it is a game with a lot of room for improvement. At the same time, it’s crazy to think it is a masterful genre-defining experience even if it could have been better in a few areas. It makes one wonder how awesome the sequel has the potential to be. I hope Nintendo delivers in that regard.